Thursday
Aug252011
UPCOMING EVENTS
Tuesday
Jul192011
Saturday
Jul092011
ALL STAR BASH XI
Saturday, July 9, 2011 at 2:09PM MINT is back in action with another epic weekend of drifting. The team went down to All Star Bash 11 over the July 4th weekend at the Willow Springs International Raceway. Hosted by the guys that run Just Drift, ASB is the premier event for amateur drifting. The event had attendees from across the country stretching from local LA drifters to the Canadian Drift Union team.
Chris is the ASB-veteran of the group. His familiarity with the tracks shows with the way that he can swing his 20V 4AGE-powered Corolla all day long. His weekend came to an end after trying some ganster drifting on the Horse Thief Mile course. The car dirt dropped both wheels and pulled him into the dirt. The impact broke the exhaust clean off the car and jammed the differential, ending his ASB weekend.
In the ASB heat, this was a true test for Alex and his 1UZFE V8-powered Corolla. Even though the car was overheating every session, this didn't stop Alex from throwing the car every which way. See him here doing some long handbrake initiations coming up the last corner to Streets of Willow.
Sherry came home with the "most body damage" award. During the first day, she lightly tapped a hay bale and it sent her fiberglass fender flying. With a tight running group, that fender stood no chance and it was run over and destroyed. Still there was some awesome non-stop drift time all weekend for this topless beast!
Eric wins the award for the slowest car at ASB. Powered by a stock KA24E, we think that we had the most underpowered car at the event. There may have been some stock 4AGE Corollas, but none that we saw. Team MINT tandems were hard when everyone else put down serious power compared to this single cam.
Nate was the joker of the group with a huge Forever Alone face right infront of the driver window. Nate ran all weekend with his body kit and came home with no damage to his body. Some off-roading won him a dent in his Tomei oil-pan even though he had a PBM skid plate to try to prevent damage. Nate probably bought that skid plate cause it was bright and shiny.
More pics here and from doubleZERO and videos on our Youtube page.
Wednesday
Mar302011
ThunderDrift Pro-Am: Round 1
Wednesday, March 30, 2011 at 9:58PM Team MINT members Alex and Jose headed to the first round of the ThunderDrift Pro-Am. Pro-Am offers the chance to get a license right into FormulaD.
The day was full of surprises. Neither Alex or Jose were in thier own cars due to the fact that they were not able to finish the cars in time for the event. Jose piloted Sherry's intense SR-powered 240SX convertable while Alex drove Chris's 20-valve Corolla.
Alex was unable to place the car where he wanted it and was fighting with e-brake initiations the whole day. The Corolla was not acting as predictably as Alex had expected and he running off-track. Jose was doing well towards the end of the day, but he was still fighting the different powerband that the SR was giving him.
Rob "Mestizo" was with having similar problems as Alex. He had just put in a hydraulic e-brake and was learning it all day as well.
Lex gave me a scare when he turned up the boost on his FC RX-7 and came flying backwards towards the tire wall I was standing behind. Like Jose, the different powerband was a surprise for me at least.
More pictures here and thank you to ThunderDrift for hosting the event. Thank you to Eric and Lawrence for being spotters and coming out on a Wednesday. It was a learning experience for us all! We will be better come Round 2!!
Tuesday
Mar292011
Team Project: Mini Monster
Tuesday, March 29, 2011 at 11:45PM So for the past few months I've been working on my own project... I don't know what to call it so for now it'll be the Mini Monster the V86? The engine is a 1UZFE from a Lexus LS400 mated to a W58 tranny in my AE86. Why? 256hp, 260 ft-lb of torque, revving out to 6500 RPM. Not too bad for a V8. The weight is abou 466lbs with tranny, which is lighter than your sr20det at 490lbs and F20C at 540lbs. We will see what happens!
I had to do some custom mounts with some minor subframe "adjustments".
Then some chassis reinforcement.. Learning how to seamweld on my own car. FUN!
Some engine bay prep work and paint! Gold for good luck!
Get that engine together with a custom bellhousing to a W58 tranny.
And toss that mofo in!!
Got some small stuff to work out, get it all running. Hopefully more updates soon!
